Best performance in Goodfellas?

i know it was pesci who got the oscar, but it's really a hard decision for me. in the end it has to (IMHO) come down to liotta's performance and pesci's. who do you think put in the best performance? i say pesci. only because this is the only movie i've seen liotta in, so i can't compare him to his other roles. both outstanding, but I KNOW that pesci's was a career best, whereas liotta i don't know!

mick

Tough question, Mick, because practically everyone in the film put in a stellar performance. The mark of a great director like Scorsese is that he gets the max from his actors and actresses. My favorite performance was by Chuck Low, who played Morrie--lots of character in a minor figure. But they were all great!

I'd have to say Pesci. Like you said, he got the Oscar. His performance was awesome. I mean, so was everyone else's... But his was, to me, just plain out better.

Bobby De Niro and Joe Pesci for me, they're a great tandem. Bobby is always at his best in his movies. his facial expression alone says it all. for the little roles, Jimmy "Two Times" is very effective in his very few seconds of exposure . . .
"I'm gonna get the papers get the papers."

GoodFella

This is a tough one. The entire movie is so brillantly cast and acted. Everyone is spot on in their performances. Pesci is both hilarious and terrifying. DeNiro is classic and no one can beat his expressions. But I think I enjoyed Ray Liotta's performance the most. Maybe because I'd never seen him act so well before, but I thought he was incredible. His narration was wonderful and from the beginning to the paranoid end he was amazing.

I'd have to say Pesci - the scene where he winds Liotta up "you think I'm funny?" is an absolute classic! I felt real anxiety while watching it for the first time - is he joking? is he going to get nasty? will he start shooting?

That said - they are all fantastic - Deniro and Liotta are superb.

Hard question, but I really liked Ray Liotta's performance. But Joe Pesci role was really good too, I mean he did win an Oscar for it.

I'd have to say Deniros performance. The first times I saw the movie I didnt think so much of it, but the more I see the movie, the more I get fascinated with Deniro. Take the scene when he is sitting in the bar and starts to think about wacking Morrie, suberb acting!

It's hard to say, but I wouldn't choose Pesci just because of the "how am I funny?" scene. It was funny but it was not great acting. Anyone could've done that part.

It is tough, because Liotta was the main character and we saw more of him. I'd really have to watch it again(been a while) and really look at who did better.

i would have to say joe pecis role

DonC, are you kidding? i don't think there's many actors of that time who are capable of pulling that scene off effectively. the change in pesci's face and the gradul tension creeping up on liotta is immense--at least IMO!

mick

I agree Capo! First time I saw Goodfellas I was scared outta my mind. Pesci was perfect, both charming and very funny in the first segment, and "dear god what is he gonna do!" in the second. I thought Ray Liotta was amazing in that scene also. You see him get more and more nervous until he takes a shot, praying that Tommy is just joking, but even then you can tell that he's not 100% sure it's all an act.

You're kidding, right? There are few actors that have the ability to put that much fear and charisma into that scene.

Joe Pesci and Ray Liota were probably the best imo

Ray Liotta.

Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci were better in Casino, and should've won for their performance in that. In Casino, they were the main characters, and you went deeper into their minds. Goodfellas was just the same thing but less for them.
DeNiro's quiet, smart tough guy persona and Pesci's crazy tough guy image were both aggraded and performed to the max in Casino, along with different sides to their personality.

All other Ray Liotta's movies were just 90 % medicore Hollywood action movies. Goodfellas was his best performance ever. Narc was his second best and a damn good movie. Cop Land was also good.

After I saw the bedroom scene were Ray's wife held a gun to his head, that did it for me. It was his movie. I don't know if he should've won an Oscar, but he should've been nominated.

I agree as to it being Ray Liotta's movie. He was the main character and did a damn good job. But that's where my agreeing ends. I think Pesci spawned the performance that stole the movie... Well, not as far as stealing, but certainly caught your attention when he's in a scene. He's vicous, hilarious, and loud... That's the kind of character everyone wants to see! Well, alot of people, at least.

I think De Niro and Pesci's roles were better in GoodFellas than Casino. I mean, Casino is an AWESOME movie, and one of my favorites... But, just because the role was bigger, and you got more into their minds, doesn't mean the acting's better. I think their performances in GoodFellas is slightly better.

I agree, Pesci was a scene stealer. This was the first time he acted like that, and it blew me away. F*ck, when he kills Spider, he becomes the most ruthless person I've probably ever seen in a movie. He made me hate him. But in Casino, one minute he's at home with his kids, the next he's stabbing a guy in the neck with a pen, and made me believe it. He pulled it off. Now that's acting
I dunno. They were the perfect supporting characters in Goodfellas, and perfect main characters in Casino.

the scenes in Goodfellas that i laugh at the most are when Pesci visits his mother for the shovel (which turns ou to be a knife! ) and when they're burying batts and tommy comes out with: "here's a wing!" acting at it's funniest. beats any comedy film i've ever seen!

mick

Colletti, No ONE could have done the Pesci scene, because Pesci ad-Libbed the WHOLE scene, he came up with it on th espot, it wasn't even in the script!

No one mentioned Lorraine Bracco? She was AWESOME!

Nicky Santorro and Tommy DeVito are the scariest people i've ever seen, they're just brutal. Stabing soemone to death with a pen!

Look at Pesci 10 years before Goodfellas (Raging Bull), and 10 Years before Casino (Once Upon A Time In America). he is a serious actor, he isn';t going around killing everybody.

But I think Liotta should have got the award. Did pesci get Best Supporting or BEst Actor?

DeNiro, Pesci, Liotta, Bracco, and Paul Sorvino (Who NO ONE Mentioned!) gave classi cperformances!

Who else? Young Henry Hill, and a couple others had remarkable performances.

Spider was great!

And don't forget Tutty...In the FUCKING oven you're gonna go!

best supporting actor to answer your question!

mick

It was the first time we met the world, the first time we met "Jimmy the Gent"

pesci was great especially the bar scene where that dude says sumpthin to him and pesci and de niro start beatin the sh*t outta him was great

but i think itd have to go to liotta. after that movie he was one of my favorite actors. those deep blue eyes really add to everything and really give him that phsyco look. he was good in NARC too.